30 | JUNE 17 • 2021
LEGAL GUIDE
I
n his newly published book,
The Fight for Free Speech:
Ten Cases that Define Our
First Amendment Freedoms,
attorney and TV legal analyst
Ira Rosenberg examines First
Amendment law
through the lens
of contempo-
rary free speech
issues, including
nazis marching in
Charlottesville, Va.,
and student walk-
outs for gun safety.
“If the last four years have
shown us anything, it’s that our
democracy is fragile,
” Rosenberg
said. “We do need to worry
about government interference.
If we don’t understand our
rights, they will be taken away,
and it will be eroded.
“If the press can’t publish
vital information, be it election
coverage or COVID-19 related
data, democracy will stumble,
he added.
As legal counsel for ABC
News, Rosenberg said the
2018 mass shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School
inspired him to write the book.
At the time, he and his family
discussed news coverage about
student survivors turned activ-
ists. His children started asking
questions about what conse-
quences they might face if they
left school during the day to join
the National School Walkout
protests.
Aside from his job at ABC,
47-year-old Rosenberg also
teaches media law at New York’s
Brooklyn College.
“There are two primary dif-
ferences between the American
free speech approach and the
European, or international,
model,
” Rosenberg said. “The
first difference is the First
Amendment was written and
interpreted to prevent govern-
ment interference with speech.
That’s very different from
Europe.
“The second major difference
is that — even though many
Americans get confused by
this — the First Amendment
protects hate speech. We can-
not restrict speakers’ speech
because we hate the message
they espouse. That is why nazis
marching in Charlottesville
are allowed. That is why the
Westboro Baptist Church can
protest outside military funerals.
“
As a Jewish person, this
was certainly the most difficult
free speech issue to embrace,
”
he said. “Hearing nazis in
Charlottesville say, ‘Jews will
not replace us’ was certainly the
most frightening reemergence of
nazi speech in my adult lifetime.
But, even when we disagree with
everything a person or group
says, even when we know it to
be false and hateful, we don’t
want government intrusion.
“However, I do think that for
too long free speech advocates
have glossed over the harm that
hateful language can inflict,
”
Rosenberg added. “In my book,
I talk about critical race theorists
and equity theorists who ques-
tion how speech by the nazis has
enriched Jews, or how speech
by the Klan has enriched Blacks.
These are very important points
to raise.
“Still, I strongly believe the
government should not be the
arbiter of what is true or hate-
ful.
”
Ira
Rosenberg
The Fight for
Free Speech
CATHRYN J. PRINCE TIMES OF ISRAEL
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